ALAN ARCHIBALD knows that the Glasgow derby everyone wants to see does not involve his team, writes Graeme Macpherson.
Should Rangers and Celtic both progress into the semi-finals of the League Cup this week then the prospect of a first meeting between the clubs since April 2012 will become a distinct possibility.
St Johnstone, who take on Rangers at Ibrox this evening, and Archibald's Partick Thistle, who play at Celtic Park tomorrow night, will have something to say about that, of course. Cup success has eluded the club from Maryhill since their famous League Cup triumph against Celtic in 1971 but Archibald has seen the street parades through Kilmarnock, Paisley and Perth in recent seasons and wants Thistle fans to have a moment like that for themselves. It has been too long a wait, he admits.
"Everyone is dying for a Celtic versus Rangers game; that is what everyone is hoping for," said the Thistle manager. "I can see where they are coming from because everyone wants to see that. But we know we have got a chance of making the semi-final. Morton went to Celtic last season and won so we are hoping we can replicate that.
"We have not had much luck in the cups and that is something we have stressed to the lads. You see clubs do it all the time and Inverness Caley Thistle got to the final last season. That is something we are jealous of . . . there is no doubt about that. It is something we would like to do as well.
"I don't think we could ever be fed up of hearing about 1971. We are used to it and it is something great to look back on. Hopefully, we can do something like that in the future and get to a final as well.
"It is a great opportunity for the lads and we said that after the last round when we beat St Mirren. Everyone has written us off because it is Celtic but we certainly believe in ourselves that we are good enough to get a result."
Archibald admitted he wasn't sure what to expect of Celtic under new manager Ronny Deila. "They are in transition. The new manager has come in and you don't know what team he is going to play. He has made three or four changes in recent games and he has a massive squad to do that. You don't really know what you are going to get: they were 4-4-2 at the weekend and 4-3-3 the previous game. I don't think the manager knows his best team yet and hopefully we can capitalise on it.
"I have watched Hamilton's recent win at Parkhead and we will see what we can learn from that. I think you can take hope from that."
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